The likes of AT&T and Verizon Wireless are no doubt grateful for Steve Jobs and the iPhone – a device that has helped U.S. carriers make the smartphone an indispensable part of daily life.
But those carriers might want to thank their lucky stars that Jobs didn't get his way all the time.
Years ago, Apple's co-founder hoped to create a network that would use unlicensed spectrum rather than rely on wireless networks, IDG News Service reported, citing industry wireless pioneer John Stanton, who spoke earlier this week at the Law Seminars International event in Seattle.
"He wanted to replace carriers," the report quoted Stanton – chairman of venture capital firm Trilogy International Partners and a former chief executive of both Western Wireless Corp. and T-Mobile USA – as saying in reference to Jobs. "He and I spent a lot of time talking about whether synthetically you could create a carrier using Wi-Fi spectrum. That was part of his vision."
Jobs, who died Oct. 5 at age 56, reportedly gave up on the idea years ago.
Had he succeeded, U.S. carriers likely would have considered Apple's iPhone and Jobs more of a foe than a friend.
